Here Come "Citizen" Rallies Against Climate Change

More details are emerging on the oil industry's attempt at astroturfinga grassroots movement against climate change legislation.

As Talking Points Memonotes, the American Petroleum Institute (API) is planning "citizen" rallies, urging member oil companies to recruit their employees for events that will "put a human face on the impacts of unsound energy policy," and push senators to "avoid the mistakes embodied in the House climate bill" (Read the leaked memo here).

According to TPM, API has already spent more than $3 million lobbying against climate change legislation this year, and the upcoming campaign is funded by members of the "Energy Citizens" alliance -- a coalition of corporate and conservative groups like anti-health-care-reform group 60 Plus, FreedomWorks, and Grover Norquist's Americans For Tax Reform.

What gets tricky is that some API members also belong to the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of groups that actually supports the current legislation. Shell has told TPM it's not getting involved in the rallies; it's unclear what BP will do.